– Spoiler Review –
The last time we saw Barriss Offee, she’d been radicalized and under arrest for her efforts, her fate left unknown to fans for over 10 years now, but Tales of the Empire’s final three episodes reveal the fascinating and surprising journey which comes next.
I always enjoyed Barriss Offee as a character, especially having read the Legends MedStar Duology (Chris at the Manor covered the books in his Legendary Adventures series), and enjoyed her friendship with Ahsoka Tano in The Clone Wars. I was surprised as many were when she ended up orchestrating a terror attack on the Jedi Temple, framing Ahsoka in the process, and ended up arrested and in jail thanks to Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress, not the Jedi Order itself. It was an interesting twist and surprise for the character, and most of what she was saying about the Order wasn’t totally incorrect, but the connotations of her being Muslim-coded, from her outfit to the pacifistic approach to the Clone Wars, and making her a terrorist didn’t sit well, especially as time went on and her fate was left unknown. Could they make up for this short-sided choice with her return? When Tales of the Empire was revealed, promising it would finally tell us what came next for her, the hope was renewed they could do her story right, do justice for any past wrongs. The answer is, wonderfully and exceptionally so, yes. Read on to find out how!
“Devoted”
The opening of “Devoted” establishes, in a very subtle way, a trait for Barris Offee (Meredith Salenger) which is vital to the rest of her three episodes, while a scene later in the episode does so in a less subtle way. The episode opens with Barriss waking up, her head hurting, hearing screams and the hum of a lightsaber, only to look out her thin window to see the Jedi Temple burning, the Kiner family sneakily referencing Revenge of the Sith music, and her first reaction is to shout for the guards, ask what’s going, concern ripe in her voice, as she wants know if there’s been an attack. The clones respond with a comment on her non-Jedi status, claiming they’ll be no more of them by tomorrow, and she returns to look out the window, emotions rolling across her face. Considering the last time we saw her, righteously spouting her ideas on what’s wrong with the Order itself and being arrested for her drastic actions, letting viewers witness her reaction to the Order’s doom informs us of how much a Jedi she is, despite what she did and what she said, and it’s subtle hint which is vital for what’s to come in the episodes ahead. Sometime after, Barriss is visited by Lyn, whom we first met as the criminally underused Fourth Sister Inquisitor in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series (played by there and voiced here by Rya Kihlstedt), who offers her an opportunity after vaguely telling her things have changed. Seeing as anything is better than being in prison, Barriss accepts the offer, and she’s whisked away to Nur, where the Fortress Inquisitorious is in the early stages of construction.
Barriss comes to not only meet Jedi she’s familiar with, two new characters of unknown species, but the Grand Inquisitor (voiced once again by Jason Isaacs!!) as well, who introduces them all to the concept of their little coven: to ensure the protection of the Empire’s new sense of order throughout the galaxy. The training begins before they even pick up a blade, with one choosing not to go along and we never see him again, with Barriss hesitant to say much, taking it all in, figuring out the depth of the situation before her. She understands she has a choice to not join, but they’ve taken this option away despite presenting it, and she chooses to live instead. When training directly with the Grand Inquisitor, she comes around to not holding back, embracing the forbidden Jedi emotions and eventually impressing him, and we begin to wonder if she’s going to slip, if this will open her up to what the Inquisitors are selling (while the instruction is beautifully mirrored in her final episode). Despite this moment, even when she’s locked in a shrinking arena around an endless pit against one of the other recruits, she still acting like a Jedi. She warns Dante they don’t have to do this, play their games, but he’s embracing the future and the two fight, him with the only lightsaber the Grand Inqusitor provided and her with the Force as her ally, mostly in a defensive way. Like she did earlier though, she chooses to live, to remove Dante since he’s embracing this dark future, and when he has her down for the count, she ends up choking him with the Force, his dead body falling down the pit. The look of horror on her face, and the slow and soulless way she puts on her Inquisitor helmet afterwards (which looks much like the one she wore before her arrest), wearing a literal and figurative mask of herself, as Darth Vader regards his Inquisitorious, plus her detachedly saying “Long live the Empire,” this is where the episode is far less subtle about her true intentions: she’s still a Jedi, though one who is adapting at the moment to find a better way out. The next two episodes have the work “Devoted” puts in to thank for the remainder of her story, as they pay off her choices and her commitment to being a Jedi in surprising and interesting ways.
Bonus Thoughts:
- Over in an interview at the official site, Salenger recounts her love the franchise, Barriss journey in The Clone Wars, and what it’s like to return to the role for this show.
- I have an HDR TV and I didn’t have as much of an issue with the Obi-Wan Kenobi series as some did, even if I still wished it had been a little brighter in parts, but I definitely felt like “Devoted” was hard to discern, even on the brightest of settings, and thankfully even those who worked on it knew something was up this time: Joel Aron, Director of Cinematography Lighting & FX, took to Twitter to say they were fixing the episode later that evening. Early in the AM of May 6, it was updated, and watching it again, it’s far easier to see what’s happening and works much better with my HDR settings.
- The Fortress Inquisitorious, first seen in Jedi: Fallen Order and featured a lot in OWK, only started construction on Nur after Vader and his Inquisitors caused havoc on Coruscant when chasing down two rogue Inquisitors, as seen in the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic/ending of Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade. I would hope this means this episode takes place after said series, and we aren’t once again overriding the publishing arm of Star Wars like Filoni has seemingly been eager to do as of late, when it would be very easy not to and respect what’s come before instead (which, before even an episode airs, feels like The Acolyte is doing). If this is out of order with what came before, my headcanon will simply be something like: this building was being built for a different reason and then when Palpatine ordered them moved off Coruscant, it was repurposed for them instead, which sort of makes it all work.
“Realization”
Picking up sometime after “Devoted,” “Realization” begins with Barriss and Lyn, aka the Fourth Sister, heading out on a mission together, hunting down an unnamed Jedi on an unnamed planet. The settlement they land near to investigate is largely destroyed, only the remnants of structures are where the locals make their living. Given all of the Grand Inquisitor’s bluster about protecting the Emperor’s vision, Barriss can’t help but comment on the disparity of the village, wondering how they can claim to bring order from a chaotic galaxy but allow a place like this to wither and die. Lyn points out they are reaping what they sow, harboring a Jedi, and only loyalty will bring prosperity, so Barriss is eager to help them, even if it means tracking down the Jedi. I’m sure, as this mission starts, Barriss believes it’s the easiest way for her to still do some good in the galaxy, even if dressed in wolf’s clothing. When Lyn and Barriss find a collection of villagers, Lyn starts interrogating the governor and Barriss talks to a young child who hides when they arrive. While the governor is resistant to Lyn’s bullish questioning, Barriss takes off her helmet and is gentle with the child, who ends up telling her the Jedi is here, but up in the mountains. When Barriss reveals this to Lyn, the latter unleashes her anger over the governor’s lies by slaughtering the group in the little hovel in a very brutal scene, even though we only see it from outside the building, the screams and lightsaber swinging do all the heavy lifting. Barriss protects the child, afraid Lyn is going to attack her to get to the kid, but she leaves them be and Barriss tells the kid to never look back. Barriss knows a lot about not looking back now, looking past the Jedi Order and what it was, its destruction, and working towards the future.
Lyn and Barriss climb up a mountain to track down the Jedi, though the Jedi’s attempts to slow them down only means Lyn gets to them first, and the duel begins. The Jedi manages to knock down Lyn, but it definitely costs them, as Barriss begins to wear them down when she jumps into duel, first physically, then mentally. Much like what she told the child at the village, and what she’s focusing on herself, Barriss tells the Jedi to let go of the Order, as it’s gone, and if they come with her peacefully, there’s a chance at a new life, of belonging, and no longer being alone. These appeals breakthrough to the Jedi, who shuts down their lightsaber, only for Lyn to slice them from behind. Barriss notices the Jedi is still alive and makes the case they should save them, but Lyn is too much of an Inquisitor to see otherwise, claiming the Jedi need to be eradicated, whenever and wherever. Something clicks in Barriss then, this path she is on, trying to hide amongst the Inquisitors, to use their goals to help the galaxy, is not going to work and is not enough. The Jedi of old fought for life and light, and doesn’t this poor Jedi, whom Barriss promised would no longer be alone, deserve light and life as well?
Barriss tells Lyn she still has one more Jedi to deal with, but before the other woman gets a chance to attack, Barriss flings her off the mountain, dropping her Inquisitor helmet after her. Barriss rushes back to the Jedi, telling them they aren’t alone, she won’t let them die and the episode ends there. Given her history as a healer in Legends stories, and her pacifistic approach in both canons, seeing her commit to saving this lone Jedi, regardless if she is one or not herself, is a beautiful way to honor the core of who she has largely been to fans over the years. We don’t see what happens next, nor what happens to the Jedi she saved, but this is more about her and this choice anyways and I’m glad the focus remains there, allowing us to fill in the blanks until some future story does so.
Bonus Thoughts:
- The unnamed Jedi whom Barriss saves is the first on-screen non-binary character, though the comics and novels have been far ahead of this with many characters starring across The High Republic line of stories. On-screen representation in Star Wars has been far behind publishing, and animation has often had less, either only hinting at two characters might be a queer couple in Star Wars Resistance or erasing publishing’s queer rep when bringing the story to screen, but this was a very welcomed small first step in the right direction. As an added bonus is the voice performer, Ry Chase, who identifies similarly! Even better, it’s heavily implied the Jedi lives, so there’s an opportunity to see more of them down the line. Now, here’s hoping on-screen representation only continues to increase across the board.
- Speaking of, not only has the overall fidelity in the animation increased, the variety of character models this episode, from different species, clothes, and age/height, was staggeringly neat to see, as well as the amount of people-of-color for once too!
- Also…can we please stop with this unnamed Jedi and unnamed planet stuff soon? At least give like a sector name where the planet resides.
“The Way Out”
After the end of “Realization,” it really felt like the galaxy was the limit to what would come next in Barriss’ journey and I was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of “The Way Out,” especially since it opened with brand new characters, wandering in a snowstorm on some frozen planet. Who are they? What are they doing? What does this have to do with Barriss? When they find a strange, hedgehog-like creature in the storm and ask them about the “Healer,” I immediately thought about Barriss and hoped this would be the case, and sure enough, she’s the one they are seeking. It seems she set up a network of her own, in a similar vein as the Hidden Path, but she focuses on providing healing to those who need it most, but she’s prepared for other cases to pop up: she quickly senses nothing is wrong with the family’s child, though when the family tells her the Empire took blood samples and his results frightened them, the family fleeing when they threatened to take the child, Barriss knows what’s coming next. She reassures them about why the Empire was interested in their child, mentioning his connection to the Force and what it could mean for him, while she agrees how right they were to flee, hinting at what the Empire might turn the child into had they taken him. A cold wind rushes in and the candles of Barriss’ hut go out, with one of her attendants coming to reveal someone is coming. Barriss immediately knows it must be an Inquisitor, but she makes the choice to stay behind, confront whomever, and buy the family and her attendants time to escape to an old friend (the assumption is Ahsoka Tano, but I also like the Asajj Ventress option others have theorized). I quite enjoyed this opening segment for how it kept us guessing for a bit, showing how established and revered Barriss was as a healer who travelled the galaxy, and reveals a great opportunity for future stories, like did she work with the Hidden Path? Who is the old friend in question? Who else did she help? As intriguing as those questions are, what comes next somehow takes the cake!
When the figure in the distance arrives, Barriss isn’t surprised about who it is, though they certainly are when they see Barriss: Lyn. She claims right when they weren’t looking for her, had given up, of course that’s when she finds her. Barriss counters with questioning Lyn about what she’s doing for the Empire, snatching children, and admits she doesn’t understand why Lyn’s doing it when she claims Barriss won’t. The confrontation which follows has many delightful little layers, from the call back to Barriss training with the Grand Inquisitor, twisting around his lesson by showing the futility of anger to Lyn, to the way Barriss’ words to Lyn mean more about the woman herself than the literal implications. In her years as a healer, she’s found a sense of peace and purpose, and is examining the fear inside Lyn to try to reach her, to heal her, though Lyn is still too confused by the Inquisitorious’ teachings to see it yet, as she believes Barriss warning her about going into a cave system where the family escaped to is her using fear as an ally, when really it’s her showing Lyn how weak of an ally it is. There are some tense moments in the cave, as it almost seems like Lyn’s close enough captuire the family and Barriss’ attendants, but they escape with ease and she’s left in the cave, angry, frustrated, scared, unable to find a way out. Barriss’ voice echoes around her then, trying to help her, to deprogram what the Inquisitors did, but Lyn grows more frantic, more desperate, swinging and slicing and stabbing her blade….right into Barriss!! “The Way Out” likes to zig when you think it should zag, and I was floored by the idea Barriss might have to die here, 10 years after we finally got her story! But this is enough to break the spell on Lyn, who promises to do for Barriss what she did for the Jedi in “Realization”: save her. The episode ends with Lyn carrying Barriss in her arms, exiting the cave maze, having found her way out of not just the cave, but the fear and hold the Inquisitors had on her, and it fades to black. Schrödinger’s Barriss returns! The heavy implication is Barriss will survive, and we’re left wondering what’s next for her story and how/when we’ll see her again. Are we leading to a series with Asajj, Barriss, and Lyn on adventures together? Will Barriss appear in live action next via more Filoni projects? Regardless of the answer, it’s clear Star Wars isn’t done with Barriss Offee and, if it can match the quality of the journey these three Tales of the Empire episodes took her on, we’re in for a treat now she’s back in play.
Bonus Thoughts:
- Not only has it been great to have Barriss back, but I really loved what TotE has done for the Fourth Sister, as it’s made me want more of Lyn’s backstory, seeing her as a Jedi and her history with Barriss while they were both in the Order, and allows Rya Kihlstedt to do so much more with the character than what she got in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.
- Barriss theme by the Kiner family?! Chef’s absolute kisses, it’s so good. Check out the full soundtrack via Spotify now!
- There is so much beauty in the images for this series, the animation team somehow found a way to outdo themselves again and again. If it takes longer to make shows which look this good, I’ll easily wait!!
To end Barriss’ story in Tales of the Empire by having her heal Lyn, something she was willing to achieve even if it meant her own death, shows how far she has come since her disillusionment with the Order, as she’s not only back on the path she was beforehand, but she’s on one which has surpassed what she could’ve been under the Order. In a way, both Morgan Elsbeth’s episodes and Barriss Offee’s have a thematic connection, as both are about the inevitability of their journeys, though whereas Elsbeth is heading towards one she could avoid, Barriss’ feels like she’s exactly where she needs to be. Though to have Lyn be such a vital part of this journey for Barriss, and have her on her own character arc as well, only strengthens both of their stories in the series. While Elsbeth reaps what she sows, and it was an intriguing way to help build up the how and why she goes on act as she does in Ahsoka, I found Barriss’ tale of redemption much more satisfying, as it wasn’t always clear it would go the way it did and Elsbeth’s was all about the unavoidable. Regardless of how I felt about both, having Tales of the Empire focus on characters a little less in the limelight than those in first season of Tales of the Jedi, who already have so many stories and shows about them, both stories felt more stacked with potential, and while Barriss’ fulfilled the most, Morgan’s definitely were a good step in exploring her.
Tales of the Empire’s “Barriss Offee” episodes take viewers on a journey which helps mitigate problems with her past appearances and opens up a whole galaxy of opportunity of what to do next with her.
+ Barriss Offee’s journey…
+ …and Lyn’s alongside her
+ The echoes between episodes
+ Truly stunning animation, while Salengar’s return is delightful and Kihlstedt offers considerable acting chops
– We overriding publishing again?
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.